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Posted

Today's fishing trip really gave me mixed feelings. First I caught a two-pounder, then I lost 5 baits in one hour. 

 

A little bit about myself, I am a relatively new angler and haven't had much experience fishing around different laydowns. It was a sunny day today. A bit windy. I went out fishing at 6 pm and the temperature was 58 degrees. After the cold front three days ago (it actually snowed on Saturday here in CT), fishes are finally moving up shallow.  I was at a new spot on the bank where there are a few laydowns, and I was actually standing on a laydown casting towards two other parallel laydowns that are in front of me. The first two casts of a flipping jig produced two fishes, one of which is a two-pounder largie. It got me really excited. Little did I know, the rest of the trip was an absolute nightmare. I snagged the flipping jig on some branches on the third cast, followed by two other snagged jigs and a Texas rigged worm. Two of them were snagged because I set the hook on some wood, and two others were snagged because the hook was caught by branches while I was retrieving. All this happened in like twenty minutes and I was really demoralized. In the end, I snagged a spinner bait and concluded the trip.

 

After coming back home, I have been reflecting. Maybe it was too greedy of me to keep throwing baits into the center of the nasty laydown structure. Maybe it is the way I retrieve that is prone to snagging. How do you guys work your baits around laydowns? What kind of baits do you use? I will appreciate any suggestions! ?

  • Super User
Posted

Should you throw jigs into cover, you're going to get stuck from time to time.  Trying to get cute and throwing the jigs slightly off the cover and hoping the fish are aggressive enough to come out of the cover to hit your bait is being very optimistic.  You'll lose fewer jigs AND you'll catch fewer fish.  I think the phrase that applies here is "pay to play".

You lost a tx rigged worm also - that is also going to happen from time to time - kinda less often than losing jigs, but still it is going to happen.

Any given day of fishing, once you lose your first bait and then keep throwing into the same general space, you're likely to lose more.  

I'm not sure that I would have done anything different.   Me - I'm much more likely to throw a variety of tx rigged soft plastics into a laydown before I consider throwing a jig into it.  You were fishing from the bank. The angles are different, laydowns are generally easier to approach from a boat than from the bank.

 

I don't think you did anything wrong.  You just lost some terminal tackle - that's going to happen.

  • Like 2
Posted

An old Indian once taught me. If your not getting snagged your not catching fish. Ok it wasn't an Indian but I heard that when I was very very young. And it holds true. Fish are like people they want to do as little as possible and be laying in there house waiting for food to be delivered 

  • Global Moderator
Posted

I can’t stand breaking off hooks. Drives me batty. You are not alone! The best way to catch striper around here is to chuck big lead into the boils below dams but you break off tons of rigs. I don’t even fish this way, even though I know it’s best for catching. I’d rather catch one here and there on topwater than to break off all the time. I get worked up just thinking about all my lead and hooks stuck underwater somewhere 

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  • Super User
Posted
1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

I can’t stand breaking off hooks. Drives me batty. You are not alone! The best way to catch striper around here is to chuck big lead into the boils below dams but you break off tons of rigs. I don’t even fish this way, even though I know it’s best for catching. I’d rather catch one here and there on topwater than to break off all the time. I get worked up just thinking about all my lead and hooks stuck underwater somewhere 

Well...

On average we catch around 250 pounds per person fishing the boils with live bait. Mostly 15-20 lbs,

but an occasional big fish. 

 

Two Thumbs Up Love GIF by Rosanna Pansino

  • Global Moderator
Posted
1 minute ago, roadwarrior said:

Well...

On average we catch around 250 pounds per person fishing the boils with live bait. Mostly 15-20 lbs,

but an occasional big fish. 

 

Two Thumbs Up Love GIF by Rosanna Pansino

As I stated, I know it’s the best way to catch them. I’ve also caught a 20 lb ball of lead sinkers and line in the boils. To each his own, I don’t like breaking off 

  • Super User
Posted
3 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I don’t like breaking off 

Well, that's the cost of poker. Over time you get better at fishing the bottom, but on your

best day you will still break-off 4 or 5 times. On another note, fishing "the birds" on the

lake has been very productive. We are catching both numbers and size on the Alabama Rig.

  • Super User
Posted

If your not getting hung, you arent trying.  If the jig is continually getting hung, go to a t rig of sorts. There are good wood jigs out there that may alleviate some of it and will walk over the lay downs a little better.  

Posted

I'm confused.  How did this become a striped bass conversation?  Fishing for them is different, especially in CT.

  • Global Moderator
Posted
3 minutes ago, JustinCT said:

I'm confused.  How did this become a striped bass conversation?  Fishing for them is different, especially in CT.

Just a comparison I thought of relating to breaking off. If I break off a few bass lures in a row, I'm definitely retiring for the day!! So far it's what has kept me off the ned bandwagon, too sticky around here no matter how you retrieve it 

Posted
1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

Just a comparison I thought of relating to breaking off. If I break off a few bass lures in a row, I'm definitely retiring for the day!!

Ah, got it!  Thanks!  I often fish with my Dad who is kinda of an old school guy.  He never listens to me and gets hung up and loses more lures than I thought possible.  He gives up after 2-3 lost lures too.  Lol!  Maybe if he listened once in a while...

  • Like 1
  • Super User
Posted
1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Just a comparison I thought of relating to breaking off. If I break off a few bass lures in a row, I'm definitely retiring for the day!! So far it's what has kept me off the ned bandwagon, too sticky around here no matter how you retrieve it 

I do hang a Ned quite often where I fish but find those thin wire hooks on 1/16 heads give enough to free the bait before line breaking.....most often. 

 

Will say, you lose way fewer baits from a boat due to angle advantage.

  • Global Moderator
Posted
6 hours ago, Bird said:

I do hang a Ned quite often where I fish but find those thin wire hooks on 1/16 heads give enough to free the bait before line breaking.....most often. 

 

Will say, you lose way fewer baits from a boat due to angle advantage.

Yes It’s amazing if you try from all angles with trolling motor or paddle, most stuff will come free. I freed a spoon several times today.......... then I lost it...... sadness........ but it caught several fish 

  • Like 1
Posted
22 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Just a comparison I thought of relating to breaking off. If I break off a few bass lures in a row, I'm definitely retiring for the day!! So far it's what has kept me off the ned bandwagon, too sticky around here no matter how you retrieve it 

Ned rigs get stuck. But there are plenty of weedless options out there now which I always fish. Can't keep an open hook ned jig around here. Too many sticks and junk to get them stuck in. That said, I purposefully throw ned rigs around brush and stumps to catch fish, because all I fish are ned head jigs with a weed guard. It doesn't completely prevent them getting stuck,but it does make a huge difference, and there have been plenty of days where I lose 3 or 4 hooks in a couple casts, but there are more days where I fish the same hook all day long and catch fish on the same hook multiple days.  

Another big thing with ned rig fishing is having a quality sensitive rod and braided line to a flouro leader. The more you can feel the bait with the rod/line, the less you get stuck. Often in dirty/stained water I fish a ned rig on straight braid, but if the water is really clean/clear you need a leader of at least a couple feet. 

 

For fishing lay downs, I find that a small bullet weight (1/4oz or less) with a tight rubber bobber stop on the line can make all the difference. Fishing larger line also helps with sensitivity, so you can better feel what the lure is doing and if just bumped up against a stick or if that was a fish picking it up. It also makes a huge difference if the lure does get stuck because you can sometimes either break off the stick that you're stuck on, or pull hard enough to pull the hook out. There is also a big advantage to tying the right knot. Tying a palomar knot on 10lb flouro it will break pretty quick. Tie the same knot on 40lb braid and try to break that one. 

Don't get discouraged by stuck lures, change your presentation up and find the better way to fish those spots without getting stuck. Use a lighter weight, or a heavier line, or a lighter wire hook that can bend out if you pull it hard enough and get it unstuck from the debris it's on. 

A texas rigged weightless senko is almost impossible to get stuck unless you set the hook on the tree. 

  • Global Moderator
Posted
3 hours ago, Fairtax4me said:

Ned rigs get stuck. But there are plenty of weedless options out there now which I always fish. Can't keep an open hook ned jig around here. Too many sticks and junk to get them stuck in. That said, I purposefully throw ned rigs around brush and stumps to catch fish, because all I fish are ned head jigs with a weed guard. It doesn't completely prevent them getting stuck,but it does make a huge difference, and there have been plenty of days where I lose 3 or 4 hooks in a couple casts, but there are more days where I fish the same hook all day long and catch fish on the same hook multiple days.  

Another big thing with ned rig fishing is having a quality sensitive rod and braided line to a flouro leader. The more you can feel the bait with the rod/line, the less you get stuck. Often in dirty/stained water I fish a ned rig on straight braid, but if the water is really clean/clear you need a leader of at least a couple feet. 

 

For fishing lay downs, I find that a small bullet weight (1/4oz or less) with a tight rubber bobber stop on the line can make all the difference. Fishing larger line also helps with sensitivity, so you can better feel what the lure is doing and if just bumped up against a stick or if that was a fish picking it up. It also makes a huge difference if the lure does get stuck because you can sometimes either break off the stick that you're stuck on, or pull hard enough to pull the hook out. There is also a big advantage to tying the right knot. Tying a palomar knot on 10lb flouro it will break pretty quick. Tie the same knot on 40lb braid and try to break that one. 

Don't get discouraged by stuck lures, change your presentation up and find the better way to fish those spots without getting stuck. Use a lighter weight, or a heavier line, or a lighter wire hook that can bend out if you pull it hard enough and get it unstuck from the debris it's on. 

A texas rigged weightless senko is almost impossible to get stuck unless you set the hook on the tree. 

I’m just fishing for fun with cheap gear and lures, a sensitive rod With braid to leader I shall never have! Haha. If I have to get stuck to catch fish, I can just not catch fish quite happily and soak up some vitamin D. There’s usually some suspended fish somewhere that I can experiment with. To each his own, I lose enough lures in lay downs I can’t see and didn’t even mean to fish 

Posted
On 5/12/2020 at 11:37 PM, Ming said:

Today's fishing trip really gave me mixed feelings. First I caught a two-pounder, then I lost 5 baits in one hour. 

 

A little bit about myself, I am a relatively new angler and haven't had much experience fishing around different laydowns. It was a sunny day today. A bit windy. I went out fishing at 6 pm and the temperature was 58 degrees. After the cold front three days ago (it actually snowed on Saturday here in CT), fishes are finally moving up shallow.  I was at a new spot on the bank where there are a few laydowns, and I was actually standing on a laydown casting towards two other parallel laydowns that are in front of me. The first two casts of a flipping jig produced two fishes, one of which is a two-pounder largie. It got me really excited. Little did I know, the rest of the trip was an absolute nightmare. I snagged the flipping jig on some branches on the third cast, followed by two other snagged jigs and a Texas rigged worm. Two of them were snagged because I set the hook on some wood, and two others were snagged because the hook was caught by branches while I was retrieving. All this happened in like twenty minutes and I was really demoralized. In the end, I snagged a spinner bait and concluded the trip.

 

After coming back home, I have been reflecting. Maybe it was too greedy of me to keep throwing baits into the center of the nasty laydown structure. Maybe it is the way I retrieve that is prone to snagging. How do you guys work your baits around laydowns? What kind of baits do you use? I will appreciate any suggestions! ?

on your texas rig & shaky heads texpose the hooks, they become virtually weedless. The ned rig is very hangy, you can try to throw a little lighter weight but with the exposed hook its going to happen. What style of jig are you throwing? throw an arkie jig rather than a flippin jig. I know what the "experts" say when flipping brush but an arkie jig will get up and down through the brush better than a flippin jig. Typical flippin jig aren't really made to be fished all the way back to the boat(or bank) for that matter, they are designed to pitch in, pop a couple times, reel in and flip to another piece of cover. Sounds like you recognized a couple of the snags were your fault laying into a couple tree pounders, it happens to all of us my man. I've caught many a limb brim in my day

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Posted

I'm a bank fishing guy myself and find some lures are definitely pay to play so to speak. I fish a lot of wood and have found a few approaches to help me in the lost lure department. If I'm throwing a chatterbait but come up to a nice stretch of bank with lots of wood I'll switch to a swim jig or spinner bait as they come thru it much better. Also ill often flip a jig in wood but if it's hanging up to much or the tree pile is extra dense I'll switch to something like a weightless senko. Another thing I like to do is fish a frog over and around a lay down and just try to muscle em out. The key is don't let them get turned and dive back into the mess...but using a heavy rod with heavy braid and the drag locked down gets most fish coming your way in the hookset. All that said I still lose stuff...May go 5 trips without issue then lose 3 jigs in 2 hours. But in this 1 fish 2 fish green fish bluefish game we play that's part of the deal. Especially with no boat.

Posted

 I don't fish that much wood but it's usually more of a vertical presentation for me. I had trouble finding fish on the river yesterday so I moved in real close to wood out of the current and stuck a jig just as close in there as I could...but I was in a boat. 

 

The good news is that, though I did get hung a couple of times, I didn't lose my jig. The bad news is that I didn't find any fish in there.

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